The Lone Wolf Takes a Chance (1941)

Director:

Sidney Salkow

Writers:

Louis Joseph Vance (work)
Earl Felton (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

6 March 1941 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Mystery

Plot Keywords:

Gunfire | Bank | Escape | Thief | False Accusation

Cast

Warren William	...	Michael Lanyard
June Storey	...	Gloria Foster
Henry Wilcoxon	...	Frank Jordan
Eric Blore	...	Jamison
Thurston Hall	...	Inspector Crane
Don Beddoe	...	Sheriff Haggerty
Evalyn Knapp	...	Evelyn Jordan
Fred Kelsey	...	Detective Dickens
William Forrest	...	Vic Hilton
Walter Kingsford	...	Dr. Hooper Tupman
Lloyd Bridges	...	Johnny Baker
Ben Taggart	...	Train Conductor
Richard Fiske	...	Brakeman Guarding Lanyard

Runtime:

74 min (copyright length) (TCM print)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #7046) | USA:TV-G (TV rating) | Finland:K-16

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

Eddie Laughton as "Master of Ceremonies," and Al Herman are in studio records/casting call lists, but they did not appear or were not identifiable in the movie.

Movie Connections:

Follows The Lone Wolf Spy Hunt (1939)

An improbable mix, but it works

Another good Lone Wolf entry, maybe only marred by too many slapstick moments at the beginning - but I never expect anything less from Fred Kelsey! The handsome young couple in here were Lloyd Bridges in his 1st credited film and June Storey who was managing without Gene Autry for a change.

Warren William again plays Michael Lanyard the Lone Wolf, ex-jewel thief who has minded his own business for 10 minutes when a man is murdered by gangsters outside his 9th floor apartment window. His inadvertent help in the incident doesn't seem to faze him one bit, it's something that would definitely bother me! He and his ever effervescent butler Eric Blore are instantly mixed up and while they're chasing the baddies who've kidnapped an inventor the police are chasing them for the homicide. There's some nice scenes on a train pre North By Northwest where the Lady Vanishes becomes the Inventor Vanishes before the film swerves into an crumbly old dark house setting.

With a continuously "inventive" storyline and fast pace it was one of the better and longer LW's and well worth watching for those of us who like b&w comedy mystery b pictures from the '40's.